Richard i-i



(NoModel.) V

' y R. H. SOULS..-

STEAM TRAP. v

Patentedeb. 18u, 1890.

Fl GJ.

INVENTOR,

,or suitable construction, is preferably formed f, valve and float until the ice is melted, and

NITED STATES STEAM PATENT Fries,

PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNR TO THE V JWTILATING COMPANY, OF SAME .SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters .Patent No. 421,775, dated February 18, 1890.

Application iilcd August 30, 1889 To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that l, RICHARD l-I. SoULE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the .county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Traps, of which improvements the following is a specification.

It frequentlyhappens in the class of steamtraps having its outletvalve controlled by a float that the water remaining inthe trap 'is frozen, thereby preventing any movement of the iioat and outlet-valve and rendering the trap inoperative. i

lhe object of theinvention herein is to provide means whereby the'ic'e formed in the trap may be melted, so as to release and permit of the proper movements of the valve and its iioat. f

In general terms the invention consists in the construction and combination of mechanical devices or elements, all as more fully hereinafter described'and claimed.,

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a sectional elevation of a trap embodying my'invention, and Fig. 2 is a-sectional plan view of the same. y

`The trap-l, which nia-y be of any ordinary with a removable top plate 2, and is provided with an inlet and with an outlet-pipe 4,'extending down nearly to the bottom ofthe trap, as shown. Atits lower end this pipefl is provided with a valve 5, controlling the outflow from the trap, and to said valve is attached a float (i by means of a rod 7 or any other suitable device. 'As the Waterof condensation collects in the trap the iioat 6 is raised, thereby opening the valve and permitting the water to be drawn or 'forced out oi' the trap. In cold weather, if the trap is Anot drained through the pipe Il, the water will freeze, thereby preventing the action of the the steam alone acting on the surface of the ice will not effect a rapid melting ofthe ice. 'i l therefore secure to the top of the trap one l Serial No. 322,429. (No model.)

the ice is formed by the heating of the rods bythe steam the pressure exerted by the lat- Y. ter will force the Water through the pipe,

thus permitting the steam to pass belowjthe ice, and, acting on both surfaces thereof, effect a rapid melting. As it frequently happens that the Water in the' trap is frequently frozen solid,'lprefer`to employ a series of rods 8, ar- V ranging them around the valve and pipe, as

shown in Fig. 2, so that the ice' at that pointV may be'rapidly melteihaffording access to...

of the steam and water therethrough, as is the partially-opened valve andv the passage necessary in any heating or other systemv where a circulation ofthe steam is required.

It will be readily understood vthat the rods S, i

extending from 'the top of the trap or any part thereof above the normal water-line, will be `heated by the steam and will conduct-the heat down'into and through. the ice. 1While preferring to arrange the rods around the outlet-valve, as shown, they may be arranged in any other suitable manner, it only being necessary that portions of eachrod `should-bey in the) steam-space above the normal Water-l level and portions below the same. preferring to form these rods 8 of copper, as. posse` nga high conductivity, rods of any other vsuitable, material may be employed.

I am aware that a pipe for condnctinglive steam has been arranged insteam-traps for' the purpose of thawing any ice which may be formed therein; but Iam not aware that heat conducting rods have ever been so arranged as to be heated by the steam entering the trap in the normal operation thereof and by conduction melting the ice, so as to permit of free escape of water of comensationL I claim herein as my inventionl. A steam-trap provided with an inlet and @esteem-entering the tra'ptrhrqugli iLs nor? mal inlet may be condu'ctel' throughlthe ice ro mel inlet may' be oond'uote. kumxgl the io formed insid trap,fsubsfamtilly as set forth.l om'xe nsid trap; stxbsvtantal-yas'setforth, f In testimony whereof I have .hereunto set 2. A sbeanntlljaplprovide Wih am. in eband my hand. e1, vved outlet, inombination with a'series 'rf heamoouucting rods arl'nge mound the" vo. yedutlet and extending ebow and below Witnessesz; menormel Water-efveL Wherebyfthe heat of DARWIN S. WOLCOTT, the steam entepingthejLjx-ap through its 'noxj- WLLIAM REAL.

RICHARD HQ SOULE. 

